


snake in love

by Jibbly



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M, naga!shiro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-09-13 07:34:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16888314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jibbly/pseuds/Jibbly
Summary: A tall man comes near them, pace even as he shines a flashlight over the various cages. The beam of light passes over him and he feels his eyes glow and he bares his fangs.The light stays on him for a moment, before the human reaches behind himself. Shiro mentally braces himself for a gun but is surprised when a radio is lifted up to the man’s face.“They are about sixteen creatures down here. Send in team Voltron to extract them.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so, i've been into nagas for a bit  
> don;t know anything about them, but am super interested in them  
> so i decided to indulge myself as i tend to do  
> a small little oneshot

His blood was still pumping deafeningly in his ears. Blood on his hands not even dry yet from the last fight they put him in. The large minotaur landing a slash across his face and had dug a horn into his shoulder.

He was coiled around himself in his cramped caged, when he heard a commotion. Mentally bracing himself for them to drag him out for another fight, he tightened his tail around himself.

There was the sound of things crashing, yelling, and crashing.

“Make sure they don’t get away! If even a single one of them escapes, this whole thing circuit will just pop up somewhere else.” A deep voice booms out, and it isn’t one that he recognizes. He hears the cages near him come alive and he loosens up to see what’s happening.

There are humans running around, guns and masks on as they run past them. They have flash lights and are yelling orders at each other. Some of the other nagas and creatures are begging to be let out as they run past.

A tall man comes near them, pace even as he shines a flashlight over the various cages. The beam of light passes over him and he feels his eyes glow and he bares his fangs.

The light stays on him for a moment, before the human reaches behind himself. Shiro mentally braces himself for a gun but is surprised when a radio is lifted up to the man’s face.

“They are about sixteen creatures down here. Send in team Voltron to extract them.”

He stares at the masked man, as he lowers his arm and walks away from his cage.

It’s a couple of seconds before he hears another round of footsteps and the enterance blocked with a new wave of humans. They aren’t as heavily armored at the ones before them, their face exposed and large bags slung around their waists.

Some of the others are at the bars, begging to be released when they approach them, but he stays put in his corner. He has learned to not trust so easily, especially humans.

One by one they go to the cages, a transport truck backing up into the area.

There’s a duo that comes to his cage and he feels himself tighten up. The tan one looking skeptical over him. “Hey, buddy. We’re here to get you guys out of this place.” His tone is placating, but it does little to calm him down.

“He’s going to strike, lance. Look at his body language. He’s obviously been through a lot.” The larger one says before the skinny one tries to touch the enterance to his cage.

Huffing out, he turns around and yells for another person.

“Keith! We’re gonna need your help over here!”

Shiro tracks both of them, and when the third person joins, he freezes.

He’s shorter than the first two, but he feels his eyes flash as he moves closer to the cage.

“What’s the situation?” He looks at him and scans his body.

“He’s not going to let us near him.”

The new human nods and reaches for his own radio. “Matt, we’re going to need that isolation truck.”

 _“What are we looking at?”_ a statically voice filters through.

Those eyes go over him again, and he feels a strong pull in his direction.

“Naga, looks fully grown. He’s recently been in a fight. I’m going to have to sedate him by the looks of it.”

“Don’t worry, buddy. You’ll be out of here in no time.” The first person says to him and steals his attention for just a second, but it’s enough for Keith to pull out the tranquilizer gun and shoot a needle into his arm.

He jolts and hisses, tail lashing out against the metal baring, and causes two of the humans to flinch back.

\---

He can’t really focus on anything, eyesight blurry and body warm and sluggish. He’s restrained though. That much he can tell.

The room he is in is a stark white that hurts his eyes and makes him want to curl up.

“you’re awake.”

Frowning, he tilts his head towards the source of the voice and can’t recognize any features at first. Then the person walks closer and he remembers those eyes. He tries to get up, but the restraints around him don’t let him do much else beside move his head and shoulders a bit. Tail flickering non threateningly limp.

“You were in the middle of a nasty infection, thankfully we were able to save your arm. Your nose and shoulder will scar though. You were also extremely dehydrated so we’ve been giving you fluids for the past couple of days.”

He’s wearing a white lab coat and sits besides him on the gurney.

His dark hair pulled back in a low ponytail, and Shiro shivers as that scent washes over him. Even in his drugged state, his body thrums as one thought comes into his head.

_Mate._

A shorter person comes to stand besides them and holds out a clipboard for the other to take.

“My name’s Katie, but you can call me Pidge. And this here is Keith,” she gestures to the person sitting down who nods in greeting. “you’ve been brought to the Holt sanctuary. For the time being, we are the ones that are going to be looking after you.”

He looks at the dark haired human, who looks at him with ease. Keith. A human.

“Why am I strapped down?” His voice raspy and dry.

Katie readjusts her glasses and crosses her arms over her chest, hip popping out. “Well, you kind of were violent when we tried to go near you. Even though we used a tranquilizer, you still tried to lash out.”

He blinks. “well, to be fair. I didn’t know that you guys were some kind of rescue team?”

“We know. That’s why you’re in isolation for the time being.” Keith speaks and his voice sounds lovely to his ears. “Now that a few days have passed and you seem to be in a better state physically, hopefully we can work together as a team.”

He nods, not really knowing what else to do.

Keith looks down at the clipboard and reads off it. “We usually keep you guys here for a bit, but if you have any other family or home you would like to be transferred to, we can arrange that as well.”

“I don’t have anything like that.”

Keith pauses for a second, eyes peering into his, and Shiro can see that they are a deep purple. “Okay.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I told you al that i know absolutely nothing about nagas?  
> twitter @jibblyuniverse4

They don’t completely trust him at first, which is fair he thinks. He was just part of an underground fighting ring, and he still hasn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep. He tells him that he has nowhere to go and that they can call him Shiro.

He had been put in a room at first, they still needed to tend to some of his injuries, and he held back on hissing whenever he would start to be lulled by a tranquilizer. His fight or flight reflexes still telling his body that he was in danger, even as it sagged limply when the smaller of his two caretakers would give him a large shot of vaccines or antibiotics.

Keith. His second caretaker was rarely around the first couple of days during his stay. Which agitated him, his thoughts wondering where the human that smelled like his mate was.

He remembers one particular morning, his body and mind still dull with a sedative, his tail loosely wrapped around himself, when Keith had run a hand over his scales. He was checking him over, the worst of the scarring and ugly texture of his tail slowly mending themselves. He had tried to wrap the end of his tail around the human’s ankle where he crouched down besides him.

Keith had raised an eyebrow at the faint nudging and smiled down at his tail as it sluggishly wrapped around his foot. Non-threatening, just wanting to feel the warmth of the other’s skin.

The room was fine enough. Three times larger than the cage he’d been stuffed into for the last two years, anyway. But after a week, he was moved into a habitat.

It’s….

“We weren’t sure if this would be okay for you. It was used by a pair of centaurs before, so it’s pretty spacious, but the terrain can be messed with if you want.” Pidge says from behind the glass window that looks into the habitat. Voice coming through the intercom.

Shiro looks over the thick and heavy logs and tall grass. Moving more into the space, his heart soars as he sees the bed of sand that surrounds a pool of water. He wants so much to curl himself around that sand and soak into water but hesitates. Thoughts still doubtful.

“Will it be okay for now?” She asks through the intercom.

He looks at the clear water and nods his head.

===

He’s curled up and over a log, tail covering the majority of his body, when he jolts at the sound of a door opening. The light of early morning covers his space in pale blue and gold light as he hears voices enter his space.

He’s on immediate alert, but stays where he is, body tight with tension.

“Are you sure that just fish is okay? He’s a snake not a dolphin.”

“He’s an eastern breed. They tend to eat more fish than red meat.”

The voices get closer to where he has hidden himself in the underbrush and can’t help the way his eyes flare gold.

“Where is he? Asleep?” One voice asks, before the sound of something clunks down on the ground, followed by splashing.

“Shiro?” A voice calls out and it’s Keith’s.

His body uncoils and he take a sniff of the air. Slowly, he emerges from his hiding place to see two people carefully tossing fish into his pond. Keith is kneeling on the sand, letting his fingers press into the course turf. He smiles when he sees Shiro, though. “Good morning, Shiro.” He stands up, wiping his hands onto his pants and gestures to the two others with him. “We brought breakfast, if you’re hungry.”

“Look at the size of him, damn. He’s gorgeous.” A man with sandy brown hair says, walking up to Keith and whistling as he takes Shiro in.

Keith hums, and goes to help the third person in their group, Shio recognizes him from the night of the raid. But, before he can take more than two steps, the second person hooks an arm around Keith’s shoulders and pulls him towards himself. “Matt, I’m trying to work here.”

Possessiveness boils hot in Shiro’s gut at someone else’s hands on his mate.

His tail lashes out against the sand and it makes all three humans freeze.

His body is poised to fight. He wants those hands off his mate.

Keith’s eyebrows are furrowed as he and Matt stay perfectly still, even the third person has stilled besides the water’s edge. “Shiro, hey…you’re okay.” His voice comes out soothing, trying to calm him down, but those arms haven’t moved from his shoulders.

He bares his fangs at the sandy haired human and sees as something clicks in his light eyes. He looks towards Keith and his arm, and slowly unhooks his arm from the shorter man.

“Um….”

Shiro makes his way towards the both of them and makes his tail start to wrap around Keith’s waist.

Keith stills as he feels those strong muscles pull his body away from Matt, eyes not leaving Shiro’s. Warm scales are under his palms as he sees Shiro posture himself between him and Matt. Lance looking like he was about to pass out with a fish in his hand. The tail wraps around him another time, before he realizes that he’s being enveloped. It’s not tight, but his body from the waist down is wrapped in Shiro’s tail.

Matt has his hands up in a surrendering gesture, eyes wary at the snake. “Easy there, big guy.” He looks over at Keith to make sure he’s okay, but that gets him a hiss. He flinches back, not looking in Keith’s direction. “Okay! Okay! No looking!”

Keith struggles to reach into the pouch strapped to his leg, the coils not wanting him to go anywhere. He manages to pop open the top and grabs his tranquilizer gun. He pulls it up and points it into the thick tail surrounding himself.

Shiro turns towards him, eyes gold and staring at the gun.

“Shiro, let me go right now.”  Keith’s voice is clear and steady, Shiro feels his warmth from where it soaks into his scales and frowns.

“I…” Shiro tightens himself around Keith, the human wincing at the added pressure. “Mine.” He urges Keith to understand and sees the way those eyes widen at him.

He feels a sharp sting to the back of his neck and hisses, hand coming up to feel a thin metal dart sticking out. He turns, pupils in slits, but his vision is already blurring.

“Holy shit, Matt. You shot him in the neck!”

“He was distracted, and I took my chance. Keith, are you okay?”

His head knocks softly against the sand as he feels that warmth move away from him. “Yeah…I’m fine.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Matt taking the shot.  
> I don;t know if i liked this chapter tbh  
> How i wrote shiro????


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i changed the rating on this fic because things are string to get abo up in here  
> of course they are. do you guys even know me?  
> read with caution as this, like all my fics, are unbeta'd
> 
> twitter @jibblyuniverse4  
> Tumblr @jibblyart

His head is pounding, spots dancing behind his eyelids as he starts to wake up. Sand under him coming loose as he lifts his chest off the ground. Groaning, he tries to remember what happened, but it just makes his head throb harder.

There’s the click of static before a voice comes on through the intercom. “Hey there, big guy. How’re you feeling?” The voice is annoyingly chipper and he frowns as he turns towards the thick glass wall at the front of his habitat. He frowns as he recognizes the tall man speaking into the intercom. Pidge is standing besides him, an eyebrow raised as she looks him over.

He turns his head, intent on ignoring the sandy haired duo, body still groggy but starting to wake up.

“Come on now! No hard feelings for the dart, Okay? I thought you we were about to be one employee short yesterday with the way you were curling yourself around Keith.”

He slams his tail against the sand and hears how some of it bounces off the glass, his back still turned away from the glass.

“That’s some tail you got there, damn… But I see you’re still on edge.” The line cuts off, and Shiro breathes in as he thinks they might leave him alone.

“Shiro?” The intercom buzzes and he turns instantly.

There he sees Keith standing just on the other side of Pidge, worried look on his face. Shiro lifts his upper body from the sand completely and wills his tail to nudge him towards the glass. Keith is looking at him the entire way, Pidge and Matt whispering to each other as he comes up to touch the glass. “Shiro, what happened yesterday? You’ve been so good?” Keith asks from eh other side of the glass, and Shiro feels shame at thinking he’s disappointed his mate.

Furrowing his brows, he tries to find the right words to say. Keith is human. He won’t understand unless Shiro tells him.

“I think…. He’s imprinted on you.” Pidge’s voice hums through the speakers, Keith turning towards her with confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Shiro looks down at her, her eyes meeting his without fear, and in any other circumstance, it would be stupid to do that against a naga. It would be seen as a challenge, but he lets those intelligent eyes peer at him through the glass. “Shiro, what do you think of Keith?”

Said human turns back to him to see him as he answers.

“He…He smells like my mate.” He’s sure that Keith is his mate, but doubt crawls up his spine as those violet eyes search his face.

“Shiro…” Keith’s eyes search his and Shiro feels his tail wrap itself around himself. He catches the movement and Keith looks even more conflicted. “Well, discuss this later.” He takes his hand off the glass where it had paralleled Shiro’s and turns away from the three of them. Keith disappearing behind a metal door.

It hurt. It was a rejection. He knew it was, but he also knew that Keith was his and his life was long. He’d wait.

\---

He drops onto one of the stools as soon s he’s in the lab, hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose. What the hell? Honestly? That was not what he expected to hear from Shiro when the naga had woken up. He figured he was possessive of him after the whole ‘mine’ and tail wrapping incident with Matt and Lance. But this was something else entirely.

He lifts his head to a whistle and laugh.

He frowns over at the two Holt siblings.

“Are congratulations in order?” Matt teases sitting across the table from him, as Pidge stays standing by the door.

“this isn’t funny, you dick.” Keith murmurs and tries to think about what to do.

“I’d say it’s pretty funny.” Matt counters, leaning in closer to Keith. “You know, Nagas were worshiped as fertility deities back in the day.” He says with a smirk, and Keith gives him a good kick to the leg.

“Maybe he’s just going into rut?” Pidge says out loud and it makes Keith turn towards her.

“You think?” Matt asks as he kicks Keith from under the table. “I mean, he hasn’t been here that long, so we don’t know when he would go into it.”

“We could ask him.” Keith says and Pidge nods. “That would explain the territorial behavior.”

Pidge takes a seat next to her brother and rests her chin on her hand, elbow on the table. “That still doesn’t change the fact that he’s imprinted on you, Keith.”

“We don’t know that.” He says defensibly.

“I’d say it was pretty obvious yesterday that he thinks you belong to him, Buddy.” He grins. “Don’t know why. You’re usually such an ass with new people.”

Pidge waves a hand in the air. “It’s cause Keith’s cold blooded, too.” She smirks at his frown.

“I’m glad you two are having fun at my expense.” He grumbles but sighs out his frustration at the siblings. As annoying as they were, they were one of his closest friends. “We still need to figure out where to go from here.”

“If he is in rut, or about to go into it, we need to find him a suitable mate.” Matt leans forward to think, gesturing with his hands as he talks. “There isn’t many Nagas close by. Females even less.”

Pidge runs a finger across the shiny metal top of the table. “There’s Allura in the Altean Facility, but She’s been sick for the last couple of weeks. Lance will probably get mad if we ask since he’s been taking care of her.”

Keith looks down at his distorted reflection in the table. “We know that Shiro is an alpha male, maybe we don’t need a female.” Shiro’s testosterone levels were higher than average for male nagas, his thick musk scent and unmarked glands telltale signs of an unmated alpha.

“We could call the Garrison? I think they have an omegan male, but I’m not too sure if they’ll say yes, they’re pretty strict.” Pidge says from her seat. “If that doesn’t work out, then who knows how long Shiro will act out this way.”

“He’s not aggressive.” Keith speaks up, feeling the need to defend the Naga. He’s been through a lot. He’s seen the video feed of the nightmares and confusion that Shiro has when he wakes up sometimes. He wonders what memories are replaying in his mind at night. That’s the whole reason they monitored him for as long as they did before entrusting him with a habitat. It feels wrong to be treating him like this.

“Usually. But he will be around you if he thinks that you’re his ‘mate’, so we need to see if he will take an actual mate. That way they can bond and we won’t have to worry about you every time you go in there.” Pidge says seriously.

“I can take care of myself.”

\---

The bottom of his pond is warm with the heater working just underneath the surface, so he stays on the floor. His belly and tail filled with warmth as he let’s the water surround himself. He can’t breathe underwater, but he can stay down there for a good chunk of time. And right now, he doesn’t want to be bothered with any of the humans.

It’s late, the lighting in his enclosure has dimed started to dim. The clear water turning darker by the minute as he lays his head against his arms. The rejection from the other still stung, and he stared as another fish happily swam by his head. Keith hasn’t been back.

He wonders briefly if he’s scared him off. Humans tended to fear things they didn’t understand, but he hoped that Keith would be different.

His mostly empty pond was now full of live fish, his missing his mate making his appetite diminish as the days went by with seeing those lovely violet eyes and dark unruly hair of his human. The dark skinned human from the other day had come by once. Furrowed brows looking over Shiro from behind the glass and saying something with crossed arms to the short human.

A new human had taken over his maintenance. He had a kind face and called himself Hunk. He tried to convince Shiro to eat the most. Offering to bring him whatever he wanted to eat. He was nice enough, but not the person Shiro craved to see.

Each passing day his hunger grew less and less, while his frustration and temper grew shorter and shorter. He started to polish his scales against trees and the sand bed more than once a day. One tree’s trunk almost completely burnished by his tail. On his particularly foul moods, He would sink to the bottom of his pond to get away from everything, like he was doing now.

The minutes ticked away, and he started to feel that familiar burning in his lungs telling him it was time to go back up for air. Planting his hands against the warm ground, he let his tail push his body un through the water the rest of the way. He breached the water and let out a soft gasp as he started to take in air again.

“I was starting to think you’d never come up.”

Shiro lifts his head sharply and sees Keith squatting down on the edge of the pond just an arm’s reach beyond him. All at once, he feels his body come alive at he sight and smell of him. “Keith!” He can’t help the smile that spreads across his face at the way those violet eyes soften when he inches closer to him.

“Sorry for being gone for so long. I had some things I needed to take care of.” He says softly, Shiro now right in front of him, the edge of the pond a lot shallower than where he had sunk. His chest almost completely out of the water now.

His body feels like it’s thrumming now that it’s out of the water and so close to the other. That enticing smell that clung to Keith. Screaming at him to wrap around the human and smother him with his scent. He settles for reaching a hand out instead, watching as Keith tracks his movements slowly.

His fingers touch the exposed skin of Keith’s ankles and hesitates, he looks up and waits for a rejection. He gets none as he wraps his hand around, slowly inching up Keith’s lower leg.

He feels goosebumps rise of the soft skin and hears the shaky inhale of breath from in front of him. “Shiro, are you going into rut?” It’s said low so only him and Keith can hear, but it makes him pause. Fingers still rubbing into Keith’s calves.

He looks up at Keith and sees how he’s waiting for his answer. He hasn’t moved away. Hasn’t told him to stop. Just waiting.

Shiro feels his pulse rise as he thinks that this means that Keith is accepting him. His mate so close and a heat starts to curl low in his belly. He imagines coming up onto the sand bed where Keith is and curling around the heat of his body. Dark hair nestled in the pale sand as Shiro holds him close.

His throat is dry when he nods, eyes shining gold. “I think so.” God, he hasn’t gone into a rut since before he was taken. He almost forgot what it felt like. Now that he realizes, everything makes sense.

Keith nods, and lowers his hands to cover over Shiro’s, thumbs rubbing over the wet skin. “We thought so.” He looks towards the glass and away from Shiro, nodding. He wants those eyes back on him, immediately.

His hands fall away as Keith stands up, brushing sand off his pants, and Shiro pushes himself out of the water following him. He pauses, eyes on alert as a part of his side wall opens up. On instinct, he positions himself between Keith and the open door. Tail coming up from out of the water to try and wrap around Keith, but meeting resistance. Turning back, he frowns at how Keith keeps stepping out from his coils.

An unreadable expression on his human’s face as he looks at Shiro.

Keith rubs his hand over the thickest part of his tail trying to be placating. “Hey hey hey, it’s okay. You’re okay, Shiro.” His voice is soft and he smiles at him. Shiro frowns in return. He wants to keep Keith way from whatever is on the other side of that door. He curls his tail to try and get to Keith again, but the human shakes his head. “Come on, Shiro. Quit it. I’m trying to introduce you to someone.”

“What?” He says, a bit of a hiss slipping out at the end. He doesn’t understand what Keith is talking about but lets him walk away from him. Even though every fiber of his being wants the other close, he knows that Keith doesn’t want him too. So, he winds his tail behind himself to keep for reaching out.

Once Keith is away from Shiro a good distance, he looks towards the opened door on the wall. “Okay, Iverson! I think he’s good.” He looks back at Shiro and smiles, backing towards the door. “I’ll be back later okay, Shiro?”

He flicks his tail and shakes his head. “Where are you going?” His voice is low and confused. He doesn’t understand why Keith is leaving after he just got back from who knows where.

That unreadable looks crosses Keith’s face again, hand still on the access panel to the door. “I’ll be here.” Then he opens up the door and walks out.

He’s left confused and frustrated, not understanding what’s happening. He stills when he hears movement from the other side of the opened entryway on the wall. He turns and feels himself curl up, seeing that there is another sort of conjoined habitat on the other side of the wall.

There’s nothing and then his eyes widen as a scent comes wafting in through the door. His body heating up as he takes another lungful of that scent and then the doorway is blocked by a figure.

A click from the intercom buzzes as a deep voice filters through. “Shiro, I’d like you to meet Adam.”

A handsome tan face comes into view, and Shiro’s body jolts when it recognizes that sweet smell. Omega.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i want to do more keith POV so we can get inside his head more on what he' thinking  
> Shiro just wants to curl up with his mate tbh  
> Adam! +asp!
> 
> lol anyway, i already have the ending for this au   
> I just need to figure out how to get there  
> A few more characters are going to be popping up in future chapters 
> 
> Allura was initailly going to be in Adam's role, but I couldn't do that to my girl :(   
> She's happy being cared for by Lance atm
> 
> twitter @jibblyuniverse4  
> Tumblr @jibblyart


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can all thank the asshole from last chapter for making me mad   
> it made me write this chapter out like a week faster than orignially planned so here you go

The omega looks at him from the other side of the habitat, eyes roaming over his body, and it makes heat settle low in his gut. The other naga’s eyes flare green, and Shiro knows that he’s pleased by what he sees. Adam slowly starts to make his way closer to Shiro, letting his tail flare out behind him for Shiro to see.

Shiro can’t move. Doesn’t want to. His own tail curling tighter and tither around himself, acting as a barrier as the omega comes close enough to reach out and touch.

“What’s wrong?” His voice comes out smooth and low, Shiro furrows his brow as he sees those green scales circle around his own light ones. He jolts when they rub against each other and turns his face away when Adam raises himself up so that he’s right in front of him. “I can smell that you’re in rut, so why are you holding back.” There’s genuine confusion written across Adam’s face as he tries to get Shiro to take an interest in him.

“I can’t” It’s clipped and through gritted teeth, his body and mind conflicted.

“Why not?” A hand comes to slide up to his chest and it makes him jolt. Shiro places a hand of his own on the other’s chest to push away, but it just stays there nestled in the crook of the omega’s throat.

Shiro opens and closes his mouth, no sound coming out. He knows that his face is flushed, scent responding positively to the willing omega in front of him, but….

There’s a pull in the back of his mind that keeps makes him keep his distance and body still.

He looks to the side, thick glass window letting him see through it. There are four people, one he’s never seen before, but his eyes are drawn to one. The same one that he’s scented and knows as his. The glass obscures his features, but Shiro can still see him.

Keith isn’t looking. Eyes down turned and a pained look on his face.

He can’t.

No matter what his body tells him, he can’t.

Adam frowns as the hand that Shiro has on him pushes him away. Green eyes following Shiro’s line of sight, confused. “Are you shy? We can tell them to leave if you want?” there’s a hint of frustration in his voice.

“No. I can’t. I already have someone that is mine.” Shiro

Adam stills and frowns at him. “Liar” He hisses out, and it makes Shiro turn to glare at him. “You’re unmated. I would have smelled it on you if you were.”

\---

“I don’t think this is going well.” Pidge says as they look at the two intertwine nagas through the observation window.

Keith had his arms crossed over his chest as he hears the mumbling from the other three besides him. This didn’t feel right. An aching feeling in his chest at the thought of what was happening.

Sam, after hearing about the incident with Shiro and Matt, told him to go to the Garrison to request the omega naga there. He had given Keith a stern look. _“Nagas are extremely possessive, Keith. We either find him a suitable mate, or we are going to have to transfer you to another department. I don’t want any of my people getting hurt.”_

The past few days spent thinking about Shiro. Katie told him Shiro had imprinted on him, but why? He wasn’t the only one that had treated him kindly. They all cared for their charges, even with the caution they had to keep during those first few days of Shiro’s rescue. He had been in a dangerous place. It only makes sense that he would need time to adjust to his new surroundings, try to see if he could trust them after all he’s been through.

So, why had Shiro chosen him? He wasn’t even the same species.

“Shit, we gotta separate them!” He jumps as he hears Matt yell out and Iverson curse.

He hadn’t been paying attention, he didn’t want to see, but he looked now. His eyes widened as he saw Shiro’s and the omega’s eyes flare, fangs bared, and body language from both nagas ready for a fight. This wasn’t normal courting behavior. They were seconds away from killing each other.

Panicking, Keith ran to the control panel and slammed his hand down.

“Keith! What the hell are you doing!” He heard someone yell at him as he ran out the opened door and into the enclosure.

Both Nagas whipped their heads in his direction and he felt a cold chill run up his spine at the piercing glare the omega gave him. He had heard that Nagas could paralyze their prey with their eyes, but he had never seen in happen. He didn’t know if that was what was happening, but he stopped dead in his tracks, breath coming out in pants.

“What are you doing in here?” Adam hissing out, venom dripping in his voice. He sees the way that large green tail comes whipping towards him and closes his eyes to brace himself.

The air is pushed out of his lungs as he is pulled and wrapped in coils. But not in the way he expected.

“Don’t come near him”

Keith snaps his eyes open and sees the almost opal coloring of Shiro’s tail wrapped securely around his body, the Naga’s upper body shielding his from Adam’s view.

“Enough you two!” Keith turns around to see both Matt and Iverson with the tranq guns pointed at Shiro and Adam.

Matt gives him a glare and Keith clutches at the warm scales around himself. “And you! What the fuck, Keith? You got a death wish or something?”

Iverson gestures to the opening on the side to the other habitat and looks at Adam. “That’s enough for today.”

Keith turns to look at the other snake and stills as those hateful eyes lock onto his. They are still a violently glowing green. “A human? Are you serious?” The words are spit out, and Keith feels Shiro wrap himself more securely around his body.

“Adam, enough!” Iverson yells out again, and that makes the snake curse out. One last glare at Keith that makes the hairs on his arms stand up, before he makes his way over to the other enclosure, tailing whipping back and forth furiously behind him. Iverson walks behind him, putting his hand over the panel on the panel and closing it off.

It’s only after he can’t see the deep green of the other naga’s tail, that Keith lets out a stuttering breath. Adrenaline coursing through him and making his legs shake. He just…willing ran into a standoff between two nagas…. was he insane?

“Keith, are you okay?”

Looking up, Keith swallows as Shiro lowers himself so that he’s nestled next to him in his coils. His eyes soft and worried, body still tense from earlier. There’s a lump in his throat as he tries to think of how to answer, mouth opening but nothing coming out except for a confused huff of breath.

“I’d like to know exactly what the hell you were thinking rushing in here like that?” Iverson’s gruff voice sounded off and broke the trance he was in. Turning around, he saw how both Matt and Iverson were glaring at him, guns still in their hands trained on Shiro.

“Don’t shoot him!” He panics and sees how Matt frowns at him and Shiro.

The naga settling against Keith’s side, scales rubbing themselves against his hands. He swallows the lump in his throat and looks towards Shiro. “Just…” He turns back towards the two. “Just give me a couple of minutes to talk to him. He won’t hurt me, I promise.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Matt raises his gun at Shiro and Keith feels the tensing all around him.

“I say we let them talk.” They all look towards the door and see Katie. Her fingers running over a tablet rapidly. “He won’t hurt Keith, we both know that.” He raises an eyebrow at him.

Matt turns to her and waves an arm towards him and Shiro. “this isn’t like Allura and Lance, Katie. Shiro actually thinks Keith’s his mate. And Keith is being an idiot!”

“Well, we won’t know anything if we keep putting Shiro to sleep. This has never happened before as far as I can tell, so maybe we should let them figure it out.” She looks over at Keith, frown on her face. “Nothing is going to be accomplished by acting impulsively.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, adam isn't gone just yet  
> going to keep him around for a bit longer


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had to write this twice in one sitting because my computer lost the document when i went to the restroom. 
> 
>  
> 
> It's been a hot minute since i uploaded a chapter to this fic. fuck  
> well i've been relatively busy with work and stuff

“For the record, I want you guys to know that this is a bad idea.” Matt grumbles, arms crossed over his chest.

“Noted.” Katie moves over the camera angle to keep the two inside the enclosure in view as much as she could. Shiro relocating him and Keith deeper into the tall grass and away from the large window at the entrance.

\---

His heart is still beating a million miles an hour, as he feels the way warmth envelopes and nudges him along. His hands brace themselves against Shiro’s tail, feeling the smoothness of the scales and how the corded muscles inside contract and relax. Warmth surrounds him, the heat seeping into he fabric of his clothes. He tries to make his breathing be in tempo with the even movement to help calm himself down.

They are moving farther and farther away from where the others are, and Keith knows that Shiro is trying to move them somewhere where he thinks is safe. Though the enclosure is large, it isn’t endless. Eventually, he sees a rock formation, too small to be called a cave, but large enough to comfortably shelter a large naga like Shiro. This is where he’s moved to, the tail going further into the formation, as Shiro’s human half stays by the opening.

His eyes are a bright yellow. The color freckled with bits of green, almost glowing in the shadier area they were in. He guesses that since he’s covered by their rock, Shiro deems it safer and his large tail loosens up, giving him more room to move around.

The adrenaline from before has finally started to fade away, and with it the strength of his legs seems to go with it. Bracing a hand against the rock wall, he slides down until his butt meets the ground, legs sprawled out on either side of him.

Shiro turns towards him, eyebrows furrowing. Keith makes eye contact with him, holding his gaze. Instead of the bone deep chill and terror he had felt when locking eyes with the omega Naga, he could only feel the concern and worry in the bright colors of Shiro’s eyes. Keith lets out a deep shuddering breath as Shiro inches closer, lowering himself so that he’s at eye level with him.

“What’s wrong?” His tone is gentle, and if his body had decided that it was time to sag against the firm tail that had once again wrapped around him, he would have laughed.

Instead, he rubbed at his face with a hand. “Shiro….” Taking in another deep breath, he lowers the hand and stares at the other. “Shiro, what is this? What am I to you? Why are you being so protective over me?”

Shiro frowns, eyes moving over Keith’s face as if he doesn’t understand the questions. “your scent belongs to me.” He says it with a serious face, which only makes Keith more confused. “What the hell does that even mean? My “scent belongs to you”? I’m human.”

Shaking his head, Shiro opens and closes his mouth a few times, trying to find the right words but nothing coming out. He extends out one of his hands towards Keith.

Seeing the upturned palm, Keith hesitantly lets his left hand go forward.

Shiro shifts closer, raising their joined hands towards his face.

Keith feels the heat from both Shiro’s body and his own face rise as his and Shiro’s fingers graze over the raised and soft patch of skin at the back of Shiro’s neck.

He yanks his hand away as if he’s been burnt, cradling it to his chest, fingers closed in a fist. He can feel sweat start to bead down his neck, face flush. He knows very well what he just touched and it made his pulse spike.

A look of hurt flickers across Shiro’s face. “You are my mate, Keith.”

“I’m human, Shiro.” His voice wavers as that warm body encloses him tighter within itself. There’s no fear in his body, a silent thrumming of adrenaline returning to him, as he feels the way the distance between both of their chest is getting smaller and smaller.

The transitioning part of where Shiro’s half and his tail meet wedges itself between his open legs, thick and warm. “That doesn’t matter.” The voice is firm and deep, strong palms cup the sides of his neck and Keith shivers at the shifting he feels all around him. Shiro’s tail at his back, Shiro’s abdomen at his front, Shiro’s thumbs stroking the sides of his face. It all feels like too much for his suddenly overstimulated body.

“you’re mine.” The words make their lips graze against each other and Keith can’t help but help the way he shivers at how they make him feel. He’s completely at the mercy of this powerful being, but he knows that Shiro won’t hurt him. “You belong to me, Keith.”

He hears some commotion somewhere off to the side, past their little sheltered area, but it fades into background noise as Shiro closes the gap between them. Keith whimpers at how he’s overpowered. The kiss is deep, Shiro’s tongue making his eyes glaze over as the heat between his legs presses in harder. He still has his one hand cradled, trapped between their chests, but the other one reaches back and braces itself against the firm muscles of Shiro’s tail.

There’s too much heat all around him, he’s sweating, his body being held in place.

The hand between them pushes back. Shiro letting the weak movement shift him back, but his teeth are bared. Eyes glowing that eerily beautiful iridescent shade. “Keith-“

Taking in deep panting gulps of air, Keith shakes his head. “Wait wait wait wait! Shiro, you’re in rut.” He rationalizes, tingling sensation still on his lips. “We’ll… Adam is next door for you.”

Shiro glares at that. “No.” He moves forward again to try and capture Keith in a kiss again, but Keith moves his head to the side. Not letting that deter him, Shiro let’s his fangs lightly press into the delicate skin of Keith’s neck.

A cold chill runs down Keith’s spine at the thought of Shiro biting down on his neck. “Shiro, stop.” He moves away, much to the other’s annoyance, but he freezes as he breathes in Keith’s fear. Jolting back, he looks over Keith trying to find what’s wrong.

With some distance back between then, Keith raises a hand to cover the side of his neck. “I…Shiro you need a partner for your rut, but I can’t be it. Do you understand?” His voice is soft, still some jitters of fear in it, but he relaxes at the way Shiro seems to be backing off.

“Adam-“

“He is not my mate.”

“Neither am I.”

They stare at each other for a long while, the air getting stuck in Keith’s chest at the look on Shiro’s face. It tugged at his heart to see the expression. Shiro was the first to break the eye contact, the coldness Keith felt as he uncoiled himself from around him was a shock to his body after being so warm.

“I will not mate with the omega.” Shiro says, his tail completely removed from Keith.

“Shiro-“

“I will not touch you as well, Keith.” He turns out of the opening and whips his tail behind him as he leaves Keith behind in the rock hideaway.

He’s studdenly speechless for a few seconds, before his breath comes back to him. He curses at himself and tries to go after Shiro. His legs are unstable and he trips more than once as he looks around. He looks up at where he knows one of the cameras of the enclosure is. “Where is he?”

A click is heard before a staticy voice filters through. “In the pool”

He rushes over to the area, and sees the way the sand is parted. The water is deep enough that Shiro’s entire body can be submerged, and Keith is about to dive in after him, when he feels arms wrap around his shoulders.

“Hey hey hey! Calm down, Keith! You can’t just go diving in there, man. Shiro wants to be alone, right?”

Matt is holding him back, and was probably the person he heard wondering around earlier. He sags back against the taller man, the fight leaving his body. “Damn it. “ He mutters as he feels tears sting at the corner of his eyes. He didn’t understand what was happening to him. Shiro said that he was his mate. That he belonged to him. What the hell…what does that even mean?

“Katie wants to ask you some questions. We tried to hear what you two were saying but there was too much static.” Matt pointedly didn’t look at the way Keith’s lips were swollen, and there was a line of bruising on his neck.

“yeah. I bet she does.” He says quietly, as Matt leads the both of them towards the door.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know that it's a note, but i really do appreciate engagement in the comments

**Author's Note:**

> might continue this  
> what do you guys think  
> twitter @jibblyuniverse4


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